Vehicle activated millimeter-wave interrogating

ABSTRACT

An interrogating system can include an interrogating apparatus configured to transmit toward and receive from a subject in a subject position, millimeter-wave electromagnetic radiation. Such a system can also include a controller configured to operate the interrogating apparatus, and produce data representative of a characteristic of the subject from received radiation. Some embodiments of such an interrogating system may include interrogating apparatus adapted to be mounted to a vehicle or at a vehicle loading zone, to interrogate passengers and/or other persons prior to boarding or accessing the vehicle. Such embodiments may include one or more controllers positioned within the vehicle or at the loading zone.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/893,017, filed Jul. 16, 2004, and issued as U.S. Pat. No.7,167,091 on Jan. 23, 2007. The content of the aforementionedapplication is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Millimeter wave signals are used for radar and telecommunications. Theyare also capable of being used to produce data representative of asubject by directing millimeter-wave signals at the subject anddetecting the reflected signal. Examples of such imaging systems havebeen described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,455,590; 5,557,283; 5,859,609;6,507,309; 6,703,964; 6,872,322; and U.S. Patent Application PublicationNumbers 2004/0090359, 2004/0140924 and 2006/0066469, which patentreferences are incorporated herein by reference.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

An interrogating system can include an interrogating apparatusconfigured to transmit toward and receive from a subject in a subjectposition, millimeter-wave electromagnetic radiation. A subject mayinclude a person and any object or objects carried by the person. Such asystem can also include a controller configured to operate theinterrogating apparatus, and produce data representative of acharacteristic of the subject from received radiation, includinggraphical and/or textual output data.

Some embodiments of such an interrogating system may includeinterrogating apparatus adapted to be mounted to a passenger vehicle orat a vehicle loading zone, to interrogate passengers and/or otherpersons prior to boarding the vehicle. Such embodiments may include oneor more controllers positioned within the vehicle or at the loadingzone. Optionally, some embodiments may be configured to be wholly orpartially operated from a location remote from the interrogatingapparatus.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a general diagram showing an embodiment of an interrogationsystem.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are perspective views of a portion of a passenger vehicleupon which is mounted an embodiment of a vehicle-activated interrogatingsystem, showing vehicle-mounted interrogating apparatus that is foldablebetween a retracted and an extended position.

FIG. 4 is an elevation view of a bracket that may be used to mount theinterrogating apparatus of FIGS. 2 and 3 to a vehicle.

FIG. 5 is a cross section of the bracket of FIG. 4 taken along the line5-5 in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a cross section of the bracket of FIG. 4, interlocked with acorresponding mounting element.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a portion of another embodiment of avehicle-activated interrogating system, showing a passenger vehicleadjacent an interrogating station.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS EMBODIMENTS

Systems used for surveillance of persons prior to entry into a vehiclemay include interrogating patrons with millimeter-wave electromagneticradiation. Vehicle-activated interrogating systems may be mounted to, orotherwise associated with, passenger vehicles, and may be configured tointerrogate passengers and other persons before allowing them to boardor otherwise access the vehicle. A vehicle-mounted interrogating systemmay be configured to be folded between an extended position when usedfor interrogation and a retracted position when not in use, and may beadapted to be operated from within a vehicle, such as by the vehicleoperator. An interrogating station may include a vehicle-activatedinterrogating apparatus installed at a vehicle loading zone, and may beadapted to be operated when a vehicle is adjacent the loading zone.Vehicle-activated interrogating systems may include obstructing devicesadapted to prevent or allow boarding of the vehicle by a passenger orother person, and may be based at least in part on the results ofinterrogating the person.

Shown generally at 10 in FIG. 1 is an exemplary interrogation system.System 10 may include an interrogating apparatus 12, a controller 14,and in some systems, an input device 16 and/or an output device 18. Thesystem interrogates a subject 20 in a subject position 22 in the sensethat the interrogating apparatus transmits electromagnetic radiation 24toward the subject, and in response, the subject emits or reflectselectromagnetic radiation 26 that is detected by the interrogatingapparatus.

Subject 20 may include all that is presented for interrogation insubject position 22, whether human, animal, or inanimate object. Forexample, if a person is presented for interrogation, subject 20 mayinclude the entire person or a specific portion or portions of theperson. In some applications, such as a security checkpoint at apassenger vehicle loading zone, subject 20 may include one or morepassengers, who may be interrogated prior to or after boarding a vehicleas they pass through subject position 22. In some applications, subject20 may optionally include one or more persons who temporarily board oraccess a vehicle in order to load it (such as luggage handlers, freightdelivery personnel, and so forth) to perform maintenance, or otherwise,who may be interrogated prior to boarding or accessing the vehicle.Optionally, subject 20 may include one or more persons, animals,objects, or a combination of these.

System 10 may be adapted to interrogate subject 20 by irradiating itwith electromagnetic radiation, and detecting the reflected radiation.Electromagnetic radiation may be selected from an appropriate frequencyrange, such as in the range of about 100 megahertz (MHz) to 2 terahertz(THz), generally referred to herein as millimeter-wave radiation.Satisfactory imaging, or the production of images from the detectedradiation, may be obtained using electromagnetic radiation in thefrequency range of one gigahertz (GHz) to about 300 GHz. Radiation inthe range of about 5 GHz to about 110 GHz may also be used to produceacceptable images. Some imaging systems use radiation in the range of 24GHz to 30 GHz. Such radiation may be either at a fixed frequency or overa range or set of frequencies using several modulation types, e.g.chirp, pseudorandom frequency hop, pulsed, frequency modulatedcontinuous wave (FMCW), or continuous wave (CW).

Certain natural and synthetic fibers may be transparent orsemi-transparent to radiation of such frequencies and wavelengths,permitting the detection and/or imaging of surfaces positioned beneathsuch materials. For example, when the subject of interrogation is anindividual having portions of the body covered by clothing or othercovering materials, characteristics or other information about portionsof the subject's body covered by such materials can be detected withsystem 10, as well as those portions that are not covered. Further,information relative to objects carried, supported by, or otherwise witha person beneath clothing can be provided with system 10 for metal andnon-metal object compositions, such as those used for weapons,explosives, and the like. Thus, system 10 may be used to detect objectscarried by passengers and/or other persons waiting to board a vehicle,such as a passenger vehicle, by determining whether data based at leastin part on interrogation of a passenger or person containscharacteristics corresponding to an object on the person.

Many variations of interrogating apparatus 12 are possible. For example,the interrogating apparatus may include an array 28 of one or moreantenna units, each of which may further include a single antenna thattransmits and receives radiation or a plurality of antennas thatcollectively transmit and receive radiation. Optionally, someembodiments may employ one or more antenna apparatuses as described inU.S. Pat. No. 6,992,616, entitled “Millimeter-Wave Active ImagingSystem,” the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference.

Depending on the interrogating apparatus, an interrogating system mayinclude a support structure 30 to support interrogating apparatus 12relative to a subject position. In some embodiments, support structure30 may permanently or detachably mount interrogating apparatus 12 to avehicle 32. For example, interrogating apparatus 12 may be mounted tovehicle 32 and oriented to interrogate passengers prior to boarding thevehicle. Vehicle 32 may be any structure or device for transportingpersons or things, including both mobile and stationary conveyances.Exemplary, non-limiting examples of vehicles that are mobile conveyancesinclude road vehicles such as buses, personnel carriers, and taxis, railvehicles such as surface, elevated and subway trains, gondolas used inaerial tramways, watercraft such as a boats and ships, commercial andother aircraft, spacecraft, and so forth. Exemplary, non-limitingexamples of vehicles that are stationary conveyances include passengertransport devices such as elevators, escalators, moving walkways, andother devices adapted to transport one or more people within or relativeto a structure. The term “passenger vehicle” is used herein to indicatea vehicle that is adapted to transport one or more persons (orpassengers), and thus includes, but is not limited to, any of theaforementioned vehicles that are adapted for mass transit. Thus,although the vehicles of the exemplary embodiments discussed herein areshown as buses, such embodiments are not to be interpreted in a limitingsense.

Accordingly, the configuration of support structure 30 may be determinedby, and/or otherwise relate to, factors such as the nature of thevehicle or vehicles to which an interrogating apparatus is mounted, theorientation and location of the vehicle's entrance and the proximity ofthe subject position relative to the entrance, and so forth. In oneexample, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 and discussed in greater detailbelow, the support structure in such an example may include a foldableframework operable to move the interrogating apparatus between or amonga plurality of predetermined positions, such as a first position, inwhich the interrogating apparatus is folded out or otherwise extendedfrom the vehicle adjacent the subject position, and a second position,in which the interrogating apparatus is folded in or otherwise retractedtoward the vehicle.

In other embodiments, support structure 30 may mount interrogatingapparatus 12 at a passenger vehicle loading zone such as a bus stop orsimilar terminal, or any location at which one or more passengers boarda vehicle. As shown in FIG. 7 and discussed in greater detail below, thesupport structure in such an example may include one or more housingsand/or fittings adapted to mount interrogating apparatus 12 adjacent asubject position at a loading zone and orient the interrogatingapparatus such that passengers and/or other persons may be interrogatedprior to boarding a vehicle positioned near the loading zone.

A moving mechanism 34 may assist or perform movement of all or part ofinterrogating apparatus 12 relative to a subject in a subject position.For example, an interrogating apparatus mounted to a vehicle may bemoved between a retracted position and an extended position by movingmechanism 34. Optionally, a vehicle-mounted interrogating apparatus inan extended position may be moved relative to a subject while extendedfrom the vehicle.

For example, array 28 may include a single antenna unit, which mayrequire that array 28 be moved along one or more linear dimensions of asubject position 22, to interrogate the entirety of a subject in thesubject position. Alternatively, array 28 may include multiple adjacentantenna units arranged such that array 28 need not be moved with respectto subject position 22 to interrogate the entirety of a subject in thesubject position.

The moving mechanism may thus be any appropriate mechanism that movesinterrogating apparatus 12 and/or array 28, and may include one or moreservo motors, stepper motors, and/or other suitable devices.

Interrogating apparatus 12 may be coupled to controller 14. Ascontemplated herein, the controller may be configured to operate theinterrogating apparatus, and thus may include all structure andfunctions appropriate for generating, routing, processing, transmittingand receiving millimeter-wave signals to and from the interrogatingapparatus, and thus may include one or more input and/or output devices.The controller, in this comprehensive sense, may include multiplexedswitching among individual components of the interrogating apparatus,transmit and receive electronics, and mechanical, optical, electronic,and logic units. The controller thus may send to and receive from theinterrogating apparatus signals 36, which may include appropriatesignals such as control signals and data signals.

Controller 14 may control operation of moving mechanism 34, andcoordinate the operation of interrogation apparatus 12 with movement ofthe interrogation apparatus. Controller 14 may include hardware,software, firmware, or a combination of these, and may be included in acomputer, computer server, or other microprocessor-based system capableof performing a sequence of logic operations. In some embodiments, acontroller may completely or partially include one or more input and/oroutput devices, such as a keyboard and a monitor. In addition,processing can be distributed with individual portions being implementedin separate system components. A controller 14 may be configured tocontrol, either locally or remotely, one or more interrogation apparatus12.

Optionally, an interrogating system may include one or a plurality ofcontrollers, including a second controller 14′. Second controller 14′may be configured to perform all or some of the same functions ascontroller 14. Second controller 14′ may be operable for inputtingcontrol information to, and/or receiving information from, controller14. Further, one of controllers 14, 14′ may be configured to operate tothe exclusion of, or in combination with, the other controller orcontrollers.

One or more controllers 14, 14′ may be positioned remotely frominterrogating apparatus 12 and/or configured to operate, wholly orpartially, several interconnected interrogating apparatus.

Controller 14 may include a processor 38 and a memory 40. Componentssuch as input and output devices, processors, memories and memorydevices, and other components, may be wholly or partly co-resident ininterrogation apparatus 12 or be wholly or partly located remotely fromthe interrogation apparatus. In some embodiments, such components may beincluded in or with controller 14 and housed collectively in a consoleor similar assembly.

Controller 14 may be adapted to receive instructions or other inputsignals from one or more input devices 16, such as operator interfacedevices including keyboards, cursor controllers, touch-screen displays,and the like, and/or other processors, networks, and communicationlinks. Input device 16 may be wholly or partly co-resident in controller14 or be wholly or partly located remotely from the controller.

In some examples, input device 16 may include an activating system 42configured to detect the presence of a vehicle relative to a loadingzone, for example by electrical means such as a receiver, a transmitter,an LED, a photodiode, a phototransistor, a transducer, and a sensor,and/or by mechanical, optical, magnetic, capacitive, inductive, or anyappropriate means. In such examples, activating system 42 may thencommunicate information relating to the presence of a vehicle toprocessor 38, via one or more of the means described above. Activatingsystem 42 may optionally be configured to prevent the operation ofcontroller 14 if no vehicle is detected to be present or if the vehicleis detected to be in motion.

Processor 38 may process data signals received from the interrogatingapparatus and/or one or more input devices. The processor thus mayinclude hardware, software, firmware, or a combination of these, and maybe included in a computer, computer server, or othermicroprocessor-based system capable of performing a sequence of logicoperations. The processor may be any analog or digital computationaldevice, or combination of devices, such as a computer(s),microprocessor(s), or other logic unit(s) adapted to controlinterrogating a subject and receiving data signals 36, and to generateoutput representative of a detected characteristic of the personinterrogated. Such output may include any data, whether processed,partially processed or unprocessed, or sub-sets of the data, such as:data for a portion of a person; data that is manipulated in order toidentify one or more characteristics of a person; data that ismanipulated in order to present, for viewing by an operator or byanother processor, information corresponding to one or morecharacteristics of a person; or information relating to an object on orwith a person that is derived from received signals. The processoroutput may include graphical and/or textual information, such as one ormore images or partial images of an interrogated person and/or anyobjects with the person.

In some embodiments, processor 38 may be coupled to memory 40 forstoring data, such as one or more data sets generated by processor 38,or operating instructions, such as instructions for processing data.Memory 40 may be a single device or a combination of devices, and may belocal to the processor or remote from it and accessible on acommunication link or network.

A data set may be output to one or more output devices 18 coupled toprocessor 38, for example, a storage device, a communication link suchas a network hub, another computer or server, a printer, or directly toa display device, such as a video monitor. Output device 18 may bewholly or partly co-resident in controller 12 or be wholly or partlylocated remotely from the controller.

In some applications, output device 18 may include an obstructing device44 operable to obstruct the entrance of a vehicle coupled tointerrogation system 10 and/or to selectively restrain movement of aperson in a subject position. In such applications, obstructing device44 may be configured to block or otherwise prevent entry to a vehicle ormovement within a vehicle by a person in a subject position until theperson has been interrogated and a given characteristic has beendetected.

For example, if an interrogated passenger is determined not to becarrying a particular type of object, the obstructing device may unblocka vehicle entrance or passageway and allow the interrogated passenger toboard the vehicle. Alternatively, obstructing device 44 may beconfigured to block the entrance of a vehicle in response to output fromprocessor 38 indicating that a passenger is carrying a particular typeof object. Optionally, obstructing device 44 may be adapted to beresponsive to input provided by an operator of interrogating apparatus10, for example, to operate or disable the obstructing device withoutregard to the interrogation of a passenger or person in a subjectposition.

Some embodiments may include one or more additional components, such asadditional interrogating apparatus, controllers, output devices, inputdevices, and so forth, each of which may be either located separatelyfrom, or together with, other components of interrogating system 10.Thus, one or more interrogating apparatus may be interconnected with oneor more controllers, one or more output devices, one or more inputdevices, etc. Examples of such interrogating systems may includeembodiments in which several vehicle-mounted interrogating apparatus areconfigured to be independently operable from a separately locatedcontroller, embodiments in which one output device is configured topresent data sets based on interrogations performed by severalinterrogating apparatus, and so forth.

An exemplary and non-limiting embodiment of a vehicle-activatedinterrogating system, employing several of the concepts and componentsdiscussed in detail above, is illustrated in FIG. 2, which shows anexample of a vehicle-activated interrogating system, indicated generallyat 110. Vehicle-activated interrogating system 110 is shown to include apassenger vehicle 112 upon which an interrogating apparatus 114 ismounted. Vehicle 112 is depicted as a bus, but may be any vehicle, asdescribed in greater detail above, including, but not limited to,passenger vehicles such as trains, taxis, commercial and other aircraft,subway trains, watercraft such as passenger ships and boats, as well assubmarines, ferries, and other vessels capable of movement across orthrough water, spacecraft, and the like, passenger transport devicessuch as elevators, escalators, or moving walkways, and so forth.

Vehicle 112 may include an entrance 116 on one side, within which may besituated a door 118, which may be foldable between open and closedconfigurations. Vehicle 112 may also include an operator station 120,which may further include an operator seat 122 and a steering mechanism124. Interrogating system 110 may further include a controller, orconsole, 126, which may be positioned or otherwise configured to acceptcontrol input from, and/or provide output to, an operator of the vehiclein operator seat 122. Controller 126 may thus include one or more inputand/or output devices as described above. Thus, interrogating system 110may be “vehicle-activated” in the sense that the interrogating apparatus112 may be adapted to be operable from the vehicle, to interrogatepassengers and/or other persons prior to boarding.

Interrogating apparatus 114 is shown in FIG. 2 to include twosubstantially vertically disposed housings 128, and a support structure130 to mount housings 128 to vehicle 112. Each of housings 128 maycontain a portion of the interrogating apparatus, such as one or moreantenna arrays.

As mentioned previously, the configuration of one or more components ofan interrogating system, such as support structure 130, may bedetermined by or otherwise relate to factors such as the nature of thevehicle to which an interrogating apparatus is mounted, theconfiguration of the vehicle's entrance and the position of the subjectposition relative to the entrance, and so forth. For example, supportstructure 130 is shown in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2 toinclude a plurality of arms 132, which may be configured to collectivelysupport the weight of interrogating apparatus 114. Arms 132 may furtherbe operable to enable movement of the interrogating apparatus, as shownby arrow 134, between a retracted position, in which the interrogatingapparatus is retracted against and substantially adjacent to thevehicle, and an extended position, in which the interrogating apparatusis extended from the vehicle and oriented to interrogate a subject. Forexample, in the extended position, housings 128 may be separated by awidth corresponding to the width of entrance 116, to define a subjectposition 136, within which a passenger or other subject may beinterrogated.

In FIG. 2, the retracted position is shown in solid lines and indicatedby the letter “A,” and the extended position is shown in dashed linesand indicated by the letter “B.” Further, the interrogating apparatus inthe extended position is shown at the same distance from the groundsurface as in the retracted position. However, in some embodiments, thesupport structure may be adapted to raise or lower the interrogatingapparatus relative to the vehicle as desired.

Support structure 130 may further be configured to selectively retaininterrogating apparatus 114 in a predetermined position. For example,interrogating apparatus 114 may be retained in position “A” while thevehicle is in motion or when the interrogating apparatus is otherwisenot being used, and retained in position “B” when the interrogatingapparatus is in use, such as while the vehicle is positioned at apassenger vehicle loading zone or other location at which passengersand/or other persons may be interrogated prior to boarding the vehicle.Thus, support structure 130 may include mechanical elements such asstruts, braces, hinge assemblies, biasing assemblies, retentionmechanisms, and/or other appropriate structure to fold interrogatingapparatus 114 between positions “A” and “B” and/or to retaininterrogating apparatus 114 in a predetermined position.

Optionally, support structure 130 may be configured to enable movementof housings 128 relative to subject position 136 while interrogatingapparatus 114 is retained in a predetermined position. Such movement maybe helpful if, for example, the interrogating apparatus is narrower thanthe subject to be interrogated and/or the subject position. FIG. 3 showsvehicle-activated interrogating system 110 in an extended position. Arms132, and/or support structure 130, may enable movement of housings 128back and forth in a predetermined range of movement relative to vehicle112 and subject position 136, as indicated by arrow 138.

Support structure 130 may include a powered moving mechanism (notseparately shown in this view), such as a servomotor or poweredhydraulics, integrated partially or completely within the supportstructure, the vehicle, and/or part of the vehicle wall to which thesupport structure is coupled. Such a moving mechanism may be configuredto assist or perform movement of interrogating apparatus 114 relative tovehicle 112.

Support structure 130 and/or interrogating apparatus 114 may beconfigured to be selectively detachable from vehicle 112, for example,for maintenance or storage of interrogating apparatus 114, to mount thesupport structure and interrogating apparatus on another vehicle, and soforth. Thus, support structure 130 may include a plurality of mountingdevices, or brackets 140, configured to detachably secure arms 132 to avehicle such as vehicle 112.

FIGS. 4 and 5 depict an example of a bracket 140. Bracket 140 is shownto include a vertically disposed, flat plate 142, with a top end 144 anda bottom end 146. The length of plate 142 may be secured to vehicle 112by fasteners 148 such as rivets, bolts, screws, or the like. Plate 142may terminate on opposing sides in lip portions 150, which may be spacedapart from the surface of vehicle 112 to form side channels 152. Bottomend 146 may include a base portion 154.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, bracket 140 may couple with a correspondingmounting element 156 that may be secured to an arm (not shown) and/orone or more other components of the support structure. Mounting element156 may include opposingly disposed clip members 158, which may slidedownwardly within side channels 152 to form an interlock with lipportions 150. Base portion 154 may limit downward sliding of mountingelement 156 relative to bracket 140, securing support structure 130against vehicle 112.

Movement and/or operation of interrogating apparatus 114 may becontrolled through the use of controller 126. Controller 126, asdescribed above, may be configured to operate interrogating apparatus114, detect a given characteristic of the person interrogated, andproduce an output representative of the detected characteristic.Controller 126 may further include an input device such as a keyboard ortouch-screen display, by which an operator of the vehicle may providecommand inputs to operate the controller, and/or an output device suchas a monitor.

Door 118 may be coupled to the controller and adapted to function as anobstructing device as described above. For example, door 118 may remainclosed until a passenger has been interrogated and a givencharacteristic has been detected, such as whether the passenger iscarrying a particular type of object. In this example, door 118 may openafter a passenger is determined not to be carrying such an object.Alternatively, door 118 may be configured to remain open unless theinterrogated passenger is determined to be carrying a particular type ofobject, at which point the door may close. Optionally, door 118 may beadapted to be responsive to input provided by an operator to controller126, for example, to open or close the door without regard to theinterrogation of a passenger.

Some embodiments of a vehicle-mounted interrogating system may furtherinclude a governing device or other activating system configured toprevent operation of the interrogating apparatus while the vehicle is inmotion, as a safety precaution. Optionally, a vehicle-mountedinterrogating system may include an additional controller mounted awayfrom the vehicle, for example at a passenger vehicle loading zone,adapted to perform one or more functions of the controller mounted tothe vehicle. Such a vehicle-mounted interrogating system may beconfigured to be operated via either controller, or both controllers incombination. Further, in some embodiments, multiple vehicle-mountedinterrogating apparatus may be configured to be operated, wholly or inpart, from a controller mounted away from the vehicle.

FIG. 7 shows another exemplary and non-limiting embodiment of avehicle-activated interrogating system, indicated generally at 210.Vehicle-activated interrogating system 210 is shown to include aninterrogating station 212 mounted adjacent a passenger vehicle loadingzone 214, at which passengers may board a passenger vehicle 216. Forconsistency and clarity, vehicle 216 is shown as a bus, but may be anyvehicle, as explained in greater detail above. Interrogating station 212may include several components installed to a ground surface 218, suchas an interrogating apparatus 220, a first controller 222 includingassociated input and output devices, an activating system 224, and anobstructing device 226. Some or all of such components include and maybe interconnected by a wiring system 228 disposed beneath ground surface218, or by other appropriate means. Also, although the variouscomponents of vehicle-activated interrogating system 210 are describedas shown in FIG. 7, such an interrogating system may be configured asappropriate to various factors such as the nature of the vehicle and/orthe loading zone, the desired manner of controlling and/or operating theinterrogating system, security concerns, and so forth.

Vehicle 216 may include an entrance 230 on one side, within which may besituated a door 232, which may be foldable between open and closedconfigurations. Vehicle 216 may also include an operator station 234,which may further include an operator seat 236 and a steering mechanism238. Vehicle 216 may further include a second controller 240, which maybe positioned or otherwise configured to accept control input from,and/or provide output to, an operator of the vehicle.

Vehicle 216 is depicted as a bus, but may be any vehicle, as mentionedin greater detail above, including passenger vehicles such as trains,taxis, subway trains, aircraft, watercraft, and the like, passengertransport devices such as elevators, escalators, and moving walkways,and so forth.

Interrogating apparatus 220 may be partially or completely disposedwithin a pair of vertically disposed housings 242. Housings 242 may beseparated by a width corresponding to the width of entrance 230 todefine a subject position 244, within which a passenger or other subjectmay be interrogated.

Operation of interrogating apparatus 220 may be controlled through theuse of first controller 222, disposed at interrogating station 212, orsecond controller 240, disposed within vehicle 216, or both, incombination or separately. Either or both of controllers 222, 240, asdescribed above, may be configured to operate interrogating apparatus220, detect a given characteristic of the person interrogated, andproduce an output representative of the detected characteristic. Eitheror both of controllers 222, 240 may further include an input device suchas a keyboard or touch-screen display, by which an operator may providecommand inputs to operate the controller, and/or an output device suchas a monitor.

Thus, in interrogating system 210, interrogating apparatus 220 may beconfigured to be operated via either controller. Optionally, one ofcontrollers 222, 240 may be configured to override input commandsentered through the other of the controllers.

Moreover, wiring system 228 may optionally interconnect the depictedcomponents of interrogating system 210 with one or more additionalsystem components such as controllers, input and output devices, and thelike, located separately from interrogating station 212. For example,wiring system 228 may interconnect system components such asinterrogating apparatus located at several passenger vehicle loadingzones with a controller configured to operate independently eachinterrogating apparatus, a monitor configured to present data sets basedon interrogations performed by several interrogating apparatus, and soforth.

Controllers 222, 240 may be coupled to activating system 224. Asdescribed above, activating system 224, as an input device, may beconfigured to detect the presence of vehicle 216 relative to loadingzone 214. For example, a sensor 246 may be adapted to detect a wheel 248of vehicle 216. However, other examples may include activating systemsthat may operate with specificity, such as by use of RFID tags orsimilar devices by which operation of a controller is enabled only whena predetermined passenger vehicle is detected relative to a loadingzone.

Activating system 224 may communicate information relating to thepresence of a vehicle to the controllers, and may optionally beconfigured to prevent the operation of the controllers if no vehicle isdetected to be present or if the vehicle is detected to be in motion.Thus, interrogating system 210 may be “vehicle-activated” in the sensethat the controllers may be adapted to be operable when activatingsystem 224 detects vehicle 216 relative to loading zone 214.

Obstructing device 226 may be also coupled to one or more of thecontrollers and adapted to obstruct a passenger from, or allow apassenger to, board vehicle 216. In the example shown in FIG. 7,obstructing device 226 includes a base 250, hingedly connected to aswing arm 252. Swing arm 252 may be configured to swing from ahorizontal “closed” position, obstructing passage to entrance 230, to avertical “open” position, shown in dashed lines, allowing passage toentrance 230.

For example, swing arm 252 may remain closed until a passenger has beeninterrogated and a given characteristic has been detected, such aswhether the passenger is carrying a particular type of object. In thisexample, swing arm 252 may open after the interrogated passenger isdetermined not to be carrying such an object. Alternatively, swing arm252 may be configured to remain open unless the interrogated passengeris determined to be carrying a particular type of object, at which timethe swing arm may close. Optionally, swing arm 252 may be adapted to beresponsive to input provided by an operator to one of consoles 222, 240,for example, to open or close the swing arm without regard to theinterrogation of a passenger.

In addition or as an alternative to obstructing device 226, door 232 maybe adapted to function as an obstructing device, as described above.Further, although a swing-arm mechanism is shown, other embodiments of avehicle-activated interrogating system may include an obstructing deviceadapted not only to obstruct the entrance to a passenger vehicle, butalso to selectively restrain movement of a passenger or person.Moreover, some embodiments of a vehicle-activated interrogating systemmay include one controller rather than two, mounted either within avehicle or at an interrogating station.

Using the interrogating systems described above, interrogating methodsmay include obstructing the entrance to a passenger vehicle,interrogating a passenger or person adjacent the entrance, detecting agiven characteristic of the person interrogated, producing an outputrepresentative of the detected characteristic, and determining if theoutput includes information corresponding to an object on the person. Insome methods, obstructing the entrance may be performed prior to theinterrogating, and such methods may further include allowing theinterrogated person to enter the vehicle if the output does not includeinformation corresponding to an object on the person. In some methods,obstructing the entrance may be performed subsequent to theinterrogating, if the output includes information corresponding to anobject on the person.

Some methods may further include one or more of: producing data based atleast in part on the determination of whether the output includesinformation corresponding to an object on the person; presenting thedata produced for review by an operator of the system; and allowing theperson to enter the vehicle upon review of the data by the operator ofthe system.

Using the vehicle-mounted interrogating systems as described above,interrogating methods may include moving the vehicle to a loading zone,extending the interrogating apparatus toward a subject position,interrogating a person in the subject position, detecting a givencharacteristic of the person interrogated, producing an outputrepresentative of the detected characteristic, and determining if theoutput includes characteristics corresponding to an object on theperson. Such methods may further include one or more of: allowing theperson to enter the vehicle if the output does not includecharacteristics corresponding to an object on the person; and retractingthe interrogating apparatus after allowing the person to enter thevehicle.

Although the present invention has been shown and described withreference to the foregoing operational principles and preferredembodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art thatvarious changes in form and detail may be made. The present disclosureis intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications andvariances that fall within the scope of the appended claims.

While the inventions defined in the following claims have beenparticularly shown and described with reference to the foregoingexamples, those skilled in the art will understand that many variationsmay be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of theinventions. Other combinations and sub-combinations of features,functions, elements, actions and/or properties may be claimed throughamendment of the present claims or presentation of new claims in this ora related application. Such amended or new claims, whether they aredirected to different combinations or directed to the same combinations,whether different, broader, narrower or equal in scope to the originalclaims, are also regarded as included within the subject matter of thepresent disclosure.

The foregoing embodiments are illustrative, and no single feature,element, or action is essential to all possible combinations that may beclaimed in this or later applications. Where the claims recite “a” or “afirst” element or the equivalent thereof, such claims should beunderstood to include one or more such elements, neither requiring norexcluding two or more such elements. Further, ordinal indicators, suchas first, second, and third, for identified elements or actions are usedto distinguish between the elements and actions, and do not indicate arequired or limited number of such elements or actions, nor does itindicate a particular position or order of such elements or actionsunless otherwise specifically stated.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The methods and apparatus described in the present disclosure areapplicable to security, monitoring and other industries in whichsurveillance and imaging systems are utilized.

1. An interrogating system, comprising: an interrogating apparatusadapted to be mounted to a vehicle and operable to interrogate a subjectin a subject position adjacent an entrance to the vehicle withelectromagnetic radiation in a frequency range of about 100 MHz to about2 THz; and a controller configured to operate the interrogatingapparatus.
 2. The interrogating system of claim 1 wherein the vehicle isa passenger vehicle.
 3. The interrogating system of claim 2 wherein thepassenger vehicle includes one or more of a bus, a train, a taxi, and asubway.
 4. The interrogating system of claim 2 wherein the passengervehicle includes an aircraft.
 5. The interrogating system of claim 2wherein the passenger vehicle includes a watercraft.
 6. Theinterrogating system of claim 1 wherein the vehicle is a passengertransport device.
 7. The interrogating system of claim 6 wherein thepassenger transport device includes one or more of an elevator, anescalator, and a moving walkway.
 8. The interrogating system of claim 1wherein the subject includes one or more of a human, an animal, and aninanimate object.
 9. The interrogating system of claim 1, furtherincluding a support structure adapted to mount the interrogatingapparatus to the vehicle in a manner supporting the interrogatingapparatus relative to the entrance of the vehicle.
 10. The interrogatingsystem of claim 9 wherein the support structure is operable to moveselectively the interrogating apparatus between a first position, inwhich the interrogating apparatus extends from the vehicle adjacent thesubject position, and a second position, in which the interrogatingapparatus is retracted toward the vehicle.
 11. The interrogating systemof claim 10 wherein the controller is further configured to operate thesupport structure.
 12. The interrogating system of claim 1 wherein thecontroller is further configured to detect a given characteristic of thesubject based at least in part on the interrogation.
 13. Theinterrogating system of claim 12 wherein the controller is furtherconfigured to produce an output representative of the detectedcharacteristic.
 14. The interrogating system of claim 13 wherein thecontroller is further configured to determine if the output includescharacteristics corresponding to an object with the subject.
 15. Theinterrogating system of claim 1, further including an obstructing deviceresponsive to the controller and adapted to selectively obstruct theentrance to the vehicle.
 16. An interrogating system, comprising: aninterrogating station adapted to be mounted at a passenger vehicleloading zone, the interrogating station including an interrogatingapparatus operable to interrogate a subject in a subject positiondefined by the interrogating apparatus at the loading zone withelectromagnetic radiation in a frequency range of about 100 MHz to about2 THz, and a controller configured to operate the interrogatingapparatus; and an activating system adapted to detect a passengervehicle relative to the loading zone; wherein the controller is operableupon detection of the passenger vehicle.
 17. The interrogating system ofclaim 16 wherein the activating system is further adapted to detectmotion of the passenger vehicle and to prevent operation of thecontroller when the vehicle is in motion.
 18. The interrogating systemof claim 16 wherein the controller is further configured to detect agiven characteristic of the subject based at least in part on theinterrogation.
 19. The interrogating system of claim 18 wherein thecontroller is further configured to produce an output representative ofthe detected characteristic.
 20. The interrogating system of claim 19wherein the controller is further configured to determine if the outputincludes characteristics corresponding to an object with the subject.21. An interrogating system, comprising: an interrogating stationadapted to be mounted at a passenger vehicle loading zone, theinterrogating station including an interrogating apparatus operable tointerrogate a subject in a subject position defined by the interrogatingapparatus at the loading zone with electromagnetic radiation in afrequency range of about 100 MHz to about 2 THz, and a first controllerconfigured to operate the interrogating apparatus; and a secondcontroller adapted to be mounted to a passenger vehicle and operable totransmit control information to the first controller.
 22. A method,comprising: interrogating a subject in a subject position adjacent anentrance to a vehicle with electromagnetic radiation in a frequencyrange of about 100 MHz to about 2 THz prior to entry of the subject intothe vehicle; and detecting a given characteristic of the subject basedat least in part on the interrogation.
 23. The method of claim 22,further comprising: producing an output representative of the detectedcharacteristic; and determining if the output includes characteristicscorresponding to an object on the subject.
 24. The method of claim 22,further comprising obstructing the entrance to the vehicle upondetection of the characteristic.